National Radio Institute: exclusively home study courses

In 1918, the U.S. government appointed Smith director of the Radio Department at Howard University, where he was responsible for Signal Corps training, while Haas was asked to conduct radio work for the Army Officer's School at Yale University and Camp Alfred Vail, Little Silver, New Jersey. Edward L. Degener (1898–1974) joined to oversee advertising and organization in Haas' temporary absence, but stayed on to eventually become General Manager and Treasurer, retiring in 1960. After World War I, demand for radio operators continued to grow and, in 1920, classes were moved to Pennsylvania Avenue when the school was renamed the National Radio Institute. In 1923, the business was relocated to Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and classroom instruction was discontinued entirely so the school could focus solely on its home-study model. The business quickly outgrew this location as well, and moved to 16th And U Street NW in 1927, where it occupied the entire building for the next 30 years. The building on U Street was constructed in 1915 and still stands today, currently occupied by the Center for Community Change.